Hosted Insurance Software: Evaluating Security
Over the last several weeks we have talked about the benefits of using a hosted insurance Software as a Service model, like we use with the Partner XE agency management system.
As long as you can access the internet, you can access your data. Not only that, someone else handles software upgrades and system patches and provides redundant backups of your data which is stored on secure servers housed off-site.
Do a quick Google search on “how secure is SaaS” and you will get a myriad of responses. As with all things that are relatively new, there are proponents, detractors and everything in between.
Unless you have a full-fledged, dedicated security setup, however, it is very unlikely that your in-house server is as secure as a hosted application would be.
A few things to consider if you house your information on servers in your own office:
- How, when and how often is your data backed up?
- Where is your data stored?
- Who has access to your confidential data and servers?
- How do you secure your data so that it can only be accessed by those who SHOULD have access?
- What is your disaster recovery plan? Do you have one?
With a hosted insurance Software as a Service model such as we use with the Partner XE agency management system, your data is backed up for you automatically. You never have to worry about remembering to do it, whether you do it correctly, or whether your backup device is too full. It is also stored across multiple hardware servers so that no single hardware failure will prevent access to it. Can you say the same for your in-house system?
Instead of residing in your office, susceptible to power surges, natural disaster, thievery, etc., when you use hosted insurance software like the Partner XE agency management system from SIS, your data resides on secure servers housed at an impregnable data center with around the clock physical security as well as internet and server firewall data protection and malware and anti-virus protection. Weekly security patch updates take place without your ever having to think about it. So there is no chance that your security measures are not up-to-date.
Not only that, access to your data is restricted with encrypted communication and secure logons. Smart routers ensure that there is nobody getting to your data but you and those authorized to get to it.
AND, with SaaS, disaster recovery is part of the package – all you need to do is make sure your data is properly entered into the system.
As we said last week, an important thing to consider is that when you invest in hosted insurance software you are buying more than just the software, you are buying access to the people behind the software as well – a whole team of experts whose main priority is making sure that the system runs smoothly AND SECURELY for you.
